


Meanings of inked flowers

by Sunako_Akuma



Series: Writer's Month 2020 [1]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Gen, Writer's Month 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:49:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25670842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunako_Akuma/pseuds/Sunako_Akuma
Summary: Writer's Month 2020 Frist prompt: tattoo artist/flower shop AUSteve works, when he's on leave along with Freddie, at the tattoo shop of Freddie's brother. One night shortly before they close for the night, a man walks in and asks for a tattoo.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams
Series: Writer's Month 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861411
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47
Collections: Writer's Month 2020





	Meanings of inked flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Well one day late...
> 
> The meaning of all flowers will be mentioned at last.  
> I will just mention that despite the fact that I proofread it, there might still be odd mistakes.  
> And should someone find a capital letter on words that should have capital letter, I'm very sorry.

It was 20 minutes before Freddie’s brother would close down the shop and they were free for the night. Freddie himself was also just finishing up on the last touch-ups before sending the last customer on his way. Staring at his best friend, who looked not very happy. The three of them had been pulling straws on who had to do this guy’s tattoo and Freddie had been the poor sod that gotten the shortest one.

“Do you think we can get our CO to let us come back early?” Steve laughed, because usually Freddie had no problem enjoying their forced vacation. Grinning Steve shook his head, hearing Freddie groan.

“I never wanted to know so much about that topic and now I need something to bleach my brain from those imagines.” Deep brash laughter came from the door to the office and Freddie groaned again, which also caused Steve to laugh.

When the doorbell chimed, the laughter died down immediately and both Steve and Freddie straightened up. The man was small. Especially compared to Steve or Freddie, maybe 5 foot five? Steve wasn’t sure. But he had broad shoulders and strong arms.

“Welcome to Hart’s Needle. What can we do for you?” Steve held out his hand and it was gripped firmly and Steve felt familiar callouses. This man…

“I would like an appointment for a tattoo.” Steve nodded and turned to Freddie to give him the calendar.

“Tomorrow morning, when we open up, I’m free. Does that work for you?” The man nodded, shifted in his chair, that Steve had offered to him.

“Okay, then I would like to know what kind of a tattoo you want. If it is bigger with more colour and detail, we need to make more than one appointment.” There was something about this man, that felt familiar to Steve he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“A name. Grace. I would like it surrounded by flowers and plants. Specifically, aloe, lavender and arborvitae, through you probably know it under thuja. On my right side, a bit above the hip bone.” That was very specific. The plants at least. Names through were very common.

“Ok, I’ll start sketching and we can go through them tomorrow if one meets your expectations. The name, should it be block letters or…”

“Handwriting. All connected. Wait.-“ The man grabbed a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Steve, who took it, starring at the unique way the name was written. “Is… Is it possible to write it like this?” Steve nodded.

“Black or with colour?”

“Coloured. The name in a quite dark blue, please.” Steve noted everything down, took a paperclip and put everything together.

“Then I will see you tomorrow at 8.” The man nodded, shook Steve’s hand and left the shop. Biting his lip, Steve needed to know if those callouses where what he thought they were.

Turns out that guy was a detective. NPD. Detective Daniel Williams. He was the youngest person to ever make detective in America at the age of 23. Considering he only entered the police force when he was 21 that was a feat. After finding out who his customer was, Steve begun searching through the internet for the mentioned plants that Danny wanted. After that he spent roughly 2 hours sketching. The final one, though, Steve though was the best. The name, Grace, was written in the unique way, in a deep midnight blue. The aloe was growling at the beginning and ending of the name, partially behind it, a small leaf hiding a tiny bit of the line going down from the ‘G’. The thuja, was largely behind the name, only tiny parts were growing through the ‘a’ and the ‘c’. And in front of the name was a bush of lavender.

It was when he was staring at the tattoo, he wondered what the plants meant. He knew flowers had a meaning, so it wasn’t too farfetched that plants would have too.

Everlasting Friendship for the thuja, grief for the aloe. And lavender meant happiness, love, devotion, peace. Danny was grieving. And it didn’t seem like he was coping. A part of Steve felt bad that he was digging so deeply into Danny’s life, but on the other hand, he didn’t want a good cop to end up like his father.

Grace Tillwell. Danny had trained her and she was his partner until she died on 9/11. He read the report, Danny was tied next to her, watched her being shot, bleeding out. Unable to do a single thing. Steve felt for him. War was never kind, even the war on America’s streets.

The next morning, Steve meet with Danny, showed him the 3 different sketches he made and after a short while, Danny had chosen the third sketch. Steve had to hide the grin that starting to form. He had really hoped Danny would take this one. Steve checked over with Danny if the colour were to his liking and after he got the clearance, Steve took Danny to his room to start on the tattoo.

Getting tattoo’s in certain areas was painful. Like seriously painful, around bones specifically. While Danny tensed and cursed very low at times, he tolerated the pain without a hitch and didn’t request one break.

“So, tell me, how does a military guy like you end up in a tattoo shop?” Steve looked up, surprized that Danny had figured that out.

“Well. Freddy and I serve together and his brother own’s the place. To be honest I’m still serving, just on a … forced vacation.” Danny snorted.

“Never took leave I suppose. It becomes your life, doesn’t it?” Steve mouth twitched lightly upwards.

“True, it does.” After that there was a comfortable silence between them, only the humming of the needle, light hisses and the repeating sound of rubbing soft cotton over the new tattoo.

After finishing the last touches, Steve had to admit, it looked even better on skin than on paper. He bandaged it, wrote a few things down for Danny on a piece of paper. Tattoo care, making sure it didn’t get infected and so forth. While Danny wasn’t watching he slipped another piece of paper into the pile, that he then put into an envelope. He closed the envelope with a paperclip and handed it to Danny.

“Thanks again.”

“No problem. If something seems strange that isn’t in, what I gave you, just come back.” Danny nodded, before he hesitated for a second, before speaking.

“How long are you here for?” That had surprised Steve.

“3 weeks. Then we get deployed.” Danny nodded.

“Okay, then I wish you the best for that.” After that Danny left. Steve just hoped that Danny would overcome this. He was strong, that much was easily seen. And maybe he’d hear from Danny. Maybe even sooner that he’d expect.

“Boss! Have seen Danny’s tattoo?” Steve bit down the laughter, as Kono came nearly crashing through the glass door to his office, tugging Danny along, while Chin was following with barely concealed amusement.

“Jesus, woman. You’d think that having a tattoo is a sensation in this place.” Danny grumbled, tugging his arm out of Kono’s grip.

“It is a sensation if it belongs to a Danny Williams. Like seriously brah, Steve I get, but you, never!”

Chin was chucking, seeing Danny unamused expression, despite the fact that the man’s eyes clearly betrayed him.

“But she’s right, brah. Never had I though you would have one. May we see it?” Chin was curios, Steve noticed and now needed to also force down that smirk that was nearly forming. Huffing unamused, Danny unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it aside to show the tattoo that Steve had done over 8 years ago. He was still smug that he was the one that did it. The tattoo needed a few touch-ups, but Steve was sure he’d get Danny to agree to let Steve do them.

“It looks really neat. Did you get it for Gracie?” Danny shook his head, buttoning up his shirt again.

“No for her namesake.” Noticing she touched a painful topic, Kono changed to another part of the topic tattoo she wanted to know about.

“So, who did that tattoo? One in Jersey?” Then Danny begun to grin and waved his hand in Steve’s direction. Chin immediately knew what that meant, but only because Steve’s dad probably bragged about how got of an artist Steve had been, though since Kono lacked that knowledge, she presumed something else.

“You got it at the same place?” At the shit-eating grin that both Steve and Danny were now wearing she knew that answer was wrong. Then it clicked.

“No. Steve did it? You knew each other, before 5-0?” They stared at each other, before all of them were laughing.

In a small wallet, laying on Danny’s desk, next to a picture of Gracie, there was a folded piece of paper. A bunch of elderflowers and Dandelions were drawn on it, under it was a number and with it, scrawled in the awful handwriting that was Steve’s, words formed the sentence. _‘If you ever need some to talk.’_ It had created a friendship, out of which years later a taskforce was built.

**Author's Note:**

> While the ones on Danny's tattoo have the meaning in the story, I'll just put everything in here.
> 
> Arborvitae (Thuja) means everlasting Friendship  
> Aloe means Grief  
> Lavender means happiness, love, devotion, peace  
> Elderflower means compassion  
> Dandelion means Overcoming hardship
> 
> I have no clue if this is correct, I took all information from Wikipedia on that.


End file.
